“When Irish eyes are smiling, sure the whole world smiles with you.” I once remember a cousin of mine bringing her new born to see my mum. My mum’s face lit up as she took the child in her arms. Her Irish eyes seemed to get bigger and her voice...

The Catholic Church throughout the world has many things: buildings of great value and of little; universities and hospitals; money and objects of art. She is the envy of many governments and countries when it comes to her organization, discipline and diplomacy. Despite a justifiably damaged reputation in some matters,...

I’ve had a very good week this week. I managed to get around the twenty or so sick parishioners who regularly receive Holy Communion from those of you who are extraordinary ministers of the sacrament. I was quite moved and inspired by them. While I brought them the sacraments, the...

There’s meeting someone and there’s meeting someone. In the course of the day, never mind in our entire life, we meet numerous people: in the street, in the shops, in public transport, etc.. That’s one sense of meeting someone. But there is another sense in which we say, “I’ve met...

Although he had his foibles, my father was a good man. Apart from the talkativeness that came with a drink, he did not say much about himself, or about anything (a trait which I have definitely not inherited!). He was very quiet, even in the way he’d open and close...